How many times is adultery mentioned in the Bible?
The word adultery appears 40 times in the King James Version, in 33 verses. Counting every form (adultery, adulteries, adulterer, adulterers, adulteress, adulteresses, adulterous), it appears 69 times in 57 verses across 22 of the 66 books. The World English Bible uses adultery 40 times (73 with every form).
Adultery in the King James Version and the World English Bible
Each form of adultery counted in each translation.
| Form | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| adultery | 40 | 40 |
| adulteries | 5 | 5 |
| adulterer | 3 | 2 |
| adulterers | 9 | 10 |
| adulteress | 5 | 9 |
| adulteresses | 3 | 3 |
| adulterous | 4 | 4 |
| Total | 69 | 73 |
Which books mention adultery most
Adultery appears in 22 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Matthew has the most (10), then Jeremiah (9) and Ezekiel (6).
Also in: Isaiah (1), Malachi (1), 1 Corinthians (1), Galatians (1), Hebrews (1), 2 Peter (1), Revelation (1).
First and last mention of adultery
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.
The verse that uses it most is Leviticus 20:10, 4 times:
And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
Where the two translations differ
0 verses match in the KJV but not in the World English Bible, and 4 verses match only in the World English Bible, usually because the other translation chose a different word there.
Proverbs 5:3: counted in the World English Bible only
For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. Her mouth is smoother than oil,
Proverbs 5:20: counted in the World English Bible only
And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?
For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another?
Verses with adultery on our topic pages
29 verses that use adultery in the World English Bible are in our topic collections.
Now the deeds of the flesh are obvious, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustfulness,
Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled: but God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
but I tell you that everyone who gazes at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.
Or don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s Kingdom? Don’t be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexuals,
On: Lust, Idolatry, Sin, What Does the Bible Say About Sex Before Marriage? 26 Verses
So then if, while the husband lives, she is joined to another man, she would be called an adulteress. But if the husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is no adulteress, though she is joined to another man.
On: Divorce, Widows, What Does the Bible Say About Adultery? 28 Verses, Remarriage
For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other commandments there are, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
On: What Does the Bible Say About Gambling? 25 Verses, What Does the Bible Say About Adultery? 28 Verses, What Does the Bible Say About Stealing? 30 Verses, Murder
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery;’
On: What Does the Bible Say About Masturbation? 25 Verses, What Does the Bible Say About Adultery? 28 Verses, What Does the Bible Say About Pornography? 28 Verses
but I tell you that whoever puts away his wife, except for the cause of sexual immorality, makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries her when she is put away commits adultery.
On: Divorce, What Does the Bible Say About Adultery? 28 Verses, Remarriage
I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries her when she is divorced commits adultery.”
On: Divorce, What Does the Bible Say About Adultery? 28 Verses, Remarriage
He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife, and marries another, commits adultery against her.
On: Divorce, What Does the Bible Say About Adultery? 28 Verses, Remarriage
If a woman herself divorces her husband, and marries another, she commits adultery.”
On: Divorce, What Does the Bible Say About Adultery? 28 Verses, Remarriage
Everyone who divorces his wife, and marries another, commits adultery. He who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery.
On: Divorce, What Does the Bible Say About Adultery? 28 Verses, Remarriage
Common questions
How many times is adultery in the Old Testament and the New Testament?
In the King James Version, counting every form, 34 of the 69 uses are in the Old Testament and 35 in the New Testament. Adultery appears in 22 books of the 66 in the King James Version. Matthew has the most (10), then Jeremiah (9) and Ezekiel (6).
Where is adultery first mentioned in the Bible?
The first use in the King James Version is Exodus 20:14: "Thou shalt not commit adultery." The last is Revelation 2:22.
Read the full collection: What Does the Bible Say About Adultery? 28 Verses.
More word counts: fornication, Dagon, Elam, Ramah, Moabites, Anak, Asaph, year, or all 635 words.
Counted by Bible Says About from the full public-domain text of the King James Version (1769 edition) and the World English Bible. Verse text only: headings and psalm titles are left out. A word is a run of letters: a hyphenated name like Beer-sheba counts as two, and an apostrophe stays inside its word (LORD'S is one). Matching ignores capital letters. Data compiled 2026-10-24.